Significant product reliability problems exist for vacuum insulation panels (VIPs). In addition, it is difficult to identify panels in VIP systems that have marginal failures. A marginal failure occurs when a VIP has not fully inflated or has a micro-leak resulting from, for example, handling or materials. Any of these failures can cause a reduction in performance due to a loss of vacuum.
In some cases, conventional VIP systems do not verify the panel performance and, as such, cannot detect leaks in the systems. Alternatively, conventional VIP quality control systems require direct contact with a VIP in order to identify a leak because the quality control systems detect leaks by performing thermal testing of the panel. In such a case, the amount of time and effort required to fully test a VIP system can be significant.